Black Hawk Unmanned Helicopters, the Revolution of the US Army

On the sidelines of the AUSA 2025 exhibition, Sikorsky officially launched the S70 unmanned aircraft system, also known as UHawk, which turns an old Black Hawk UH-60L helicopter into a large drone by completely removing the pilot from the cockpit.

Sikorsky has now developed a prototype of this new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and is expected to begin test flights in 2026, a Sikorsky executive said at AUSA 2025.

UH-60L Black Hawk when upgraded to a drone. Photo: Sikorsky

“We are introducing the newest member of the Black Hawk family,” said Erskine “Ramsey” Bentley, Director of Strategy and Business Development for Sikorsky Advanced Programs. “We have essentially taken a Black Hawk and used our MATRIX automation system to turn it into a UAV.”

Bentley explained that the idea for the S70 was conceived during a conversation between US Army leaders and Sikorsky executives at last year's AUSA conference, and within a year, the prototype was developed with internal funding from parent company Lockheed, as it was not a current Army requirement.

According to Bentley, the prototype was created from an older UH-60L that the company had acquired from the Army. The move comes as the US Army is phasing out the UH-60L models as part of a large-scale aviation force modernization plan.

The Army has experimented with unmanned versions of the Black Hawk before, including through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ALIAS program. However, Bentley said the UHawk is an airframe that has been completely redesigned from the ground up to take full advantage of remote control flight.

Sikorsky engineers “completely redesigned” the front of the UH-60L by installing clamshell doors and a ramp, Bentley said, making “the entire passenger compartment and cockpit available for logistics or mission support operations.”

By removing the cockpit, boarding and disembarking can be done through the front of the aircraft. Photo: Sikorsky

This allows soldiers to control unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) entering from the front of the aircraft, while the rear can hold about 40 to 50 different types of launchers in a specialized “canister”.

“When the Army conducts an airborne landing, you can imagine the UHawk flying ahead of the troops. As the UHawk approaches the landing area, it will launch payloads from the sides of the aircraft, from our payload canisters. Then, when it lands, it will drop the UGV, and the aircraft will depart, all before the troops have even set foot on the ground,” Bentley explained.

In addition to attack missions, Mr. Bentley said this unmanned helicopter can also perform cargo transport and fire support missions. In addition, the aircraft can also carry a HIMARS rocket launcher along the fuselage.

The original Black Hawk helicopter entered service with the United States Army in 1979.

Regarding the operation of the S70, Mr. Igor Cherepinsky, Director of Sikorsky Innovations, said that the aircraft can be controlled via tablet by a “minimally trained” operator. Depending on the mission, the operator can choose the level of control over the aircraft through the MATRIX automation system.

“If you tell an aircraft to fly from airport A to airport B, for example, and it recognizes that it is in civilian airspace, it will choose the appropriate route, following civilian procedures. If it is in military airspace, it will perform maneuvers appropriate to a military environment,” said Mr. Cherepinsky.

“The system has a very high level of automation, but in some cases it may not be completely as desired, so we provide the ability to adjust this level of automation.”

As for the S70's next development direction, Sikorsky executives said more information would be available after flight testing is completed next year. The U.S. Army is currently the primary customer, but the aircraft could also be used by other forces or civilian organizations for humanitarian missions, such as disaster relief.

“We expect this aircraft to be widely used by the Army for logistics support missions in contested conditions, as well as for international customers,” Bentley said. “We also see potential applications in disaster relief and other commercial and civilian areas such as wildfire fighting.”

Looking into the distant future, Mr. Cherepinsky said he did not rule out the possibility of converting the M version of the Black Hawk UH-60 into a model similar to the S70.

“It all depends on economics and cost,” he said. “Right now we are focused on the UH-60L, but who knows.”